Department of Homeless Security guards have to endure grim conditions while at work. (Obtained by Daily News)

Homeless shelter security guards are looking for a little shelter of their own — from their squalid work conditions.

Department of Homeless Service guards — known as special officers — say Mayor de Blasio should renovate the city's existing shelters before pushing ahead with his controversial plan to build 90 news ones.

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Photographs obtained by the Daily News from inside city shelters show trash-filled spaces, crumbling bathrooms and cramped co-ed locker rooms for DHS officers.

Roughly 800 special officers police the city's 674 shelters — many of which are decades old.

Some of the most offensive conditions are found in the residences for the mentally ill and chemically addicted, known as MICA shelters, according to several officers who spoke to The News.

"Everything is really small and tight, there's not even an office space," the guard said.

Many staffers work in squalid conditions. (Obtained by Daily News)

"It's not adequate to what we do. We make arrests, we deal with violent crimes and the areas set aside for us are not sufficient. Half the time we don't even have a place to eat," the officer said.

In many city shelters, men and women officers are forced to share a small locker room, the special officers said.

Kingsboro Men's Shelter in Prospect Lefferts Garden in Brooklyn — run by the Salvation Army — has some of the most egregious conditions, the DHS officers said.

One picture from the site featured a gaping hole in a ceiling above a shower filled with broken bits of plaster.

It's the shared bathroom used by the site's DHS officers and its civilian workers, the officers said. Mold and water damage streak the wall above the bathroom mirror.

Repairs and upgrades are rare in the decades-old buildings. (Obtained by Daily News)

"The women have to use this as well as the men," one officer said.

In another picture, a room that's supposed to be for guards to use contains an ironing board, a floor cleaner, cardboard boxes and more.

The Kingsboro Men's Shelter is actually two facilities across a shared courtyard — and in order to move between them both quickly, the officers have to tie open one of the doors with a piece of twine.

"One is a MICA shelter, and a lot of times when an officer needs extra help, if a client gets violent, for example, we'll call to the officers in the adjacent shelter to come help," said a veteran DHS guard.

But since the officers don't have the key to the door — they have to keep it tied open, for their safety and that of the civilian workers and clients inside.

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Department of Homeless Security guards have to endure grim conditions while at work. (Obtained by Daily News)

"We have no other way to access the two buildings in a hurry," the officer said. "It puts everyone at risk."

At an East Tremont shelter in the Bronx, a room that measures 8-by-8 holds the officers' lockers and the shelter's arrest bench — where clients caught breaking the law are held pending arrest.

"If an officer comes in for a shift and there's a client on the bench, they either have to change in front of them or go into the bathroom, which is just a mess," said one of the veteran DHS guards. "There's no phone, no fax, it's worse than a Third World facility."

Gregory Floyd, president of Teamsters Local 237, said the deplorable conditions were cause for concern — especially in light of de Blasio's rush to buy more buildings for more shelters to address the increasing number of homeless people in the city.

"The expansion is outpacing the staffing ... the shelters are understaffed and under-equipped, that's why we have co-ed locker rooms — something the mayor would criticize any other employer for doing," Floyd said. "Rather than opening new shelters and letting the chips fall where they may, City Hall should fix and adequately staff the ones they have."

A city spokesman said Mayor de Blasio allocated $200 million to make major repairs to address some 400 outstanding violations and is moving faster to make repairs.

"We are committed to working with Local 237 to ensure the workplace needs of the DHS officers who keep our clients safe every day are met. Thanks to the mayor's revamped shelter repair squad, we've increased inspections by 84% and reduced violations by 83% since last year, eliminating more than 10,400 violations in shelters citywide," said spokesman Isaac McGinn.

Mayor de Blasio also ordered an overhaul of the city's beleaguered shelter system after a series of gruesome deaths last year.

On Jan. 27, 2016, a mentally ill man was suspected of cutting the throat of Deven Black, 62, a homeless former teacher — nearly decapitating him inside the Boulevard Homeless Shelter in East Harlem.

In February 2016, Rebecca Cutler, 26, and two of her three children were killed at a hotel housing homeless families in Staten Island when her jealous boyfriend went on a sickening stabbing spree, officials said. Ziana, 1, and Maliyah, just 4 months old, died after being stabbed multiple times. Two-year-old Miracle survived.

There are more than 62,000 homeless people in city shelters, according to the Coalition for the Homeless. That's 78% higher than the number of people in shelters just 10 years ago.